National Board of Review Magazine (Jan 1939 - Jan 1942)

18 National Board of Review Magazine THE CORSICAN BROTHERS /; — Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Akim Tamiroff. Based on the novel by Alexandre Dumas. Directed by Gregory Ratojf. United Artists. An expensive filming of a very dated kind of story but well acted by the leads and handsomely mounted. The direction has a good deal of unevenness, slowing down every now and then, but it achieves some nicely exciting moments. Chief interest and brilliancy lies in the remarkably clever trick photegraphy when the two brothers are together. The bogus science on which the plot rests is not distressing at all, in fact it's rather fun. DR. KILDARE'S VICTORY / — Levj Ay res, Lionel Barrymore, Ann Ayars. Based upon characters created by Max Brand. Directed by Major W. S. Van Dyke II. MetroGoldivyn-Mayer. The victory consists in cutting the red tape that seems to encumber the two hospitals in the town with the necessity of only accepting patients from the zone which is proper to each. Kildare runs afoul of this policy in the case of a young debutante who needed an emergency operation. She appears to be the new romantic interest to come into his life. The people are as pleasant as usual and the film is full of interesting medical items and good performances but its content is rather trivial. HELLZAPOPPIN' / — Olsen k Johnson, Martha Raye, Hugh Herbert. Suggested by the stage play by Olsen & Johnson. Directed by H. C. Potter. Universal. All this and Hellzapoppin', too — it's nerve-wracking but entertaining in a volcanic sort of way. Some parts of this frenzied review will displease a few, but there is material to tickle the most eclectic tastes. It makes the old phrase, "covering the gamut," look pale indeed for added to a normal musical are the errors of a ham projectionist, an old western, intrusions of a zoo, an aquacade, Rosebud, the Hays label and the quintessence of discontinuity despite the heavy use of flypaper. A hellzapoppinuva good show. JOHNNY EAGER m — Robert Taylor, Lana Turner, Edvuard Arnold, Van Heflin. Original screen story by James Ed ivard Grant. Directed by Mervyn LeRoy. MetroGoldivyn-Mayer. A synthetic gangster film freighted with an unrelieved grimness and an apparently unending flow of self-sacrifice on the part of almost everyone in the movie in their attempt to save Mr. Taylor's soul. A smart and handsome hoodlum, Johnny has every one well in hand as he engineers his rackets from behind the scenes. And certainly according to his own definition, Johnny is no sucker in the way he deals with friend or foe. That is, not until near the end. The film is way over long and generally slow. Handkerchiefs are useful too because there's a lot of sadness in this picture. PACIFIC BLACKOUT / — Robert Preston, Martha O'Driscoll. Original screen story by Franz Spencer and Curt Siodmak. Directed by Ralph Murphy. Paramount. A convicted murderer, on his way to prison, escapes in a test blackout and has the chance to find out why an unknown night-club singer had testified falsely against him. It seems that his murder would have seriously impaired defense efforts and that fifth columnists might have won a signal victory over American production had the man been convicted. If this sounds over-wrought, be advised that the plot is beautifully devised, the hero thwarted at every turn to create suspense, and the trial blackout and air-raid provide a highly informative demonstration of effective civilian protection. MR. BUG GOES TO TOWN /; — Cartoon Feature produced by Max Fleischer. Directed by Dave Fleischer. Paramount. Like all Technicolor feature cartoons, this one is delightful and should prove a natural for juvenile audiences. It is about a community of assorted bugs living on the last patch of ground left in a busy city. Finally that property is torn up for a skyscraper to be erected and things look black indeed, especially for Hoppity Bug and his girl, Honey Bee. But a pent-house proves the saving of all. It is perhaps a little slow but it has the warmly amusing insect parallels to human life that are found in "The Wind in the Willows." The musical scoring is effective and numerous sub-plots are full of charm.